Tire.



n. MOEIARTY.

TIRE.

APPLICATION FILED P313. 13, 1909. V

Patented 0 t.12,1909.

' To all whom itma y concem:

DANIEL MORIARTY, OF ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

Y TIRE.

l 3e it known-that I, DANIEL idioms-arr, a citizen of the'United States, residing at New Qrleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana,'h ave invented new and useful Improvements in Tires, of which the followmg is a specification;

improvements in spring tires more particula-rly adapted for use in motor vehicles and belonging to-thalt general type in which two shifta-bly connected inner and outer rims are employed," the cushioning means being in the nature of rings of suitable or desired construction 'tfich are placed betwecnthe rims. This general type of constructio'iiit is well know-11in the art of spring tires and pos sess'es many advantages, chief-among which are the readiness with which the lighter vibration producing shocks incident to travel over rough roads are absorbed, the fact that pneumatic. devices with theirliability to punctures and blow-routs are absolutely dispensed with, thelongevity of the life of such a tire and the general elimination of danger which is incident to a pneumatic tire by rea son of skidding or punctures when the vehicle is travelin at a high rate of speed.

The object -othe present invention is to providea tire of the type stated which shall embody a plurality of radially disposed COll springs assembled between. inner and outer relatively-shiftable rims in a novel manner 3 and combined with removable retaining sides of one of the rims.

rings or flanges which-are provided at the The springs are confined between the rims in unattached relation, i. 0., withoutthe use ofvpositive fasa temng devices and yet are held positively '40 against lateral displarement by a series of washers or blocks thatare secured to the v inner rim and are severally d1POS8djln the inner convolutio'ns of the springs without positive attachment thereto. The removable rings or flanges are-provided onthe outer rim and when'such flanges are. removed, clearances are afforded at each side of the tire through either of which the spring may be removed simply'by a blowjwith a suitable instrument, itbelng unnecessary to remove any bolts orother devices except those which are employed to secure the flanges." Inasmuch as the springs in tires of this character occasionally become broken and in time become weak, the advantage of the ready removability thereof is obvious For the sake Specification of Letters Patent.

the end of the Patented. Oct. 12,1909.

Application filed February'13, 1909. Serial No. 477,602.

of convenience, each removable ring'or flange may be made in a plurality of a'rcuate segments, in order that, in case a particular spring becomes out of order, it may be necessary' to remove onlythe segmentadjacent such particular spring and not to remove the v n p ring or flange as an entirety. This invention relates to new and useful Theinvention while efiiciently carrying out. the above objects does not sacrifice the necessary incidents of simplicity of-structural details, inexpensiveness,strength and efliclency.

A preferredand advantageous embodiment ofthe invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings which are to be read 1n connection with the following description wherem the structural details are set forth at length, while the novel features by which the invention is distinguished from the prior art are recitedin language of the proper determinative scope in the claim appended at specification.

In the said drawingsz-Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the application of a tire constructed in'accordance with the present Invention, to the wheel structure of an automobile vehicle, the elevation being in part broken away and in part in section. Fig. '2 is an enlarged cross section of the presenttlre showing more particularly the manner in which it is connected to the vehicle wheel.

Similar characters of reference refer to corresponding parts throughout the several The felly of the wheel is indicated by the numeral 1 and the tire structure isindicated generally bythe numeral 2 and comprises essentially an inner rim 3, an outer rim 4 and springs, as 5, which are interposed between the inner and outer rims. The inner mm 3 is generally similar to the well known clencher rim, diifering only therefrom in that it is provided at its sides with extended annular flanges,.as 6. The rim 4.carrie's a tire body, as 7,'which is of exceedingly simple and inexpensive construction, being preferably const ructed of a surrounding wooden band which is given an ornamental finish and is prefe ably slightly rounded at its tread portion.

-Any-desiredanti-skidding means may be employed in connection with the tire body '4", but in order to satisfy the requirements of inexpensiveness, practicability and safety, preferably employ a band as 8, of sole leather, which is held upon the'body T by pegs, as 9, or other suitable fastening devices. a

50 1 eral e'fliciently holding or displacement with respect to the rim 3, blocks or washers, as

Thebody 7 connected to the rim 4t---by,

bolts, as 10.

' The-springs 5 may be of anysuitable form annular metallic band. For the purpose of the springs 5 against play 11, are employed. These washers are engaged within the inner convolution of each spring and in most instances are secured to the rim? by rivets 12. Where the washers coincide, however, with the spaces between the spokes of thewheel, bolts 13 are employed to fasten the same, the bolts 13 likewise connecting the rim 3 and the wheel structure and passing through the felly 1. Ornamental nuts of any desired form, as 14, are provided on the projecting inner ends 'of the bolts 13) and serve to bind the parts. It will thus be seen that the provision of the blocks 11 efliciently prevents any movement or displacement of the springs 5 with respect to the rim 3.

Friction is relie upon to hold the springs .against displacementwith relation to the rim 1in the direction of its periphery and for the purpose of holding'said springs against latdisplacement with respect to the rim 1, I employ side ring members, as 15. The members 15 are of L-shaped cross section, as shown more particularly in Fig. 2 and are detachably secured to the rim 4: by bolts or other suitable connecting devices, as 16. .The

' rings 15 have inwardly extended flanges, as

- ment between the: rims 3 and dis not retarded 17, which lie in the same planeas, or 1n substantiall the same plane as, the flanges 6 aforesai The flanges 17 are so arranged as to be closely associated with the springs 5 to hold the latter against lateral displacement. Said flanges, however, do not contact with said springs when the latter have their normal degree of strength and resiliency and in this manner the freedom of relative moveother than by the necessary action of the springsf The flanges 17 also terminate some distance short of the flanges 6 so as not to abut the same even when there is an unusual degree of relative movement between the rims. It is preferredto make the rings 15 in a' plurality of arcuate conterminous segments,

as 18, the arrangement of which is shown more articularly in Fig. 1. By so constructing t e rings 15, access may be had to any particular spring without removing the ring as an entirety and b I small number of the, olts or screws 16. The and 17 is of further advantage-in thatit ermits of the use of side covers, as 16', hy'whieh the'sm'inzs are concealed from view and by whieh the tire is' prevented fromhaving anyunusual.

hide, no particular kind of material being obli atory. connecting the side covers 18 to the respeca tive flanges 6 should be stated that .the covers 18 are not .course, advantageous for appearance and wear thereupon re sequently the .and simplicity are simplyunloosenm a.

any desired flexible material, such as rawleather or waterproof'enameled fabric,

Screws 19 and 20 are employed or and 17 In this connection it necessary tothe efiicient use of the device, but 1 add materially to'thg...ornamental appearance of the tire. While it. Wonldnoflretard the v action of the tire if dust-*0!" otner'matter should lodge in the space .between'tlre'rims or upon the various inclosed parts, it is, 12f sa e that they should be kept as free from dust as possible and the covers 18 are also of advanta e for this purpose.

rom the foregoing description it will be" apparent that the organization of the parts is such that frictional contact between any of the adjacent elements is avoided, the shifting movement of the rims being retarded only in sofar as is necessary by the action of I the springs. It may, therefore, be stated that the latter are free to act in absorbing direct and reactionary vibrations. The rm s 15 afford an eflicient means for positively %10ld ing the springsagainst lateral displacement and at the same timemay be readily removed in sections for the urpose of taking out or replacing a particu ar spring.

As was stated above, the springs 5 are not positively attached to either of the rims but are simply held against displacement, in the one instance by the collars 11 and in the other instance by friction. Therefore, when the desired sections of the-rims 15 have been removed, it is only necessary to give the spring which it is desired to take out, a blow with a suitable instrument to dislodge the same and new springs may be readily inserted by jacking the rims away from one another and pressing the springs with a suitable device and then placing1 them in position between the rims. The evice, therefore, efliciently carries out the function for which it is primarily intended, namely, for absorbing shocks, since the freedom of the springs -is not interfered with by the arran ement of the other necessary elements. The life of the springs is thus prolonged parts which are employed arestandard articles of manufacture and need no ecial machinery for their construction an conadvantages of inexpensiveness attained. "Furthermore, the arrangement permits of the .useof an ine ensivetire body with, an-eificient antiforthepurposesgof safety and general reliability. a neat- .and., highly ornamental appearance, it being und rstood- The. also hasduped. The various jskid ing tread, such-asi soleleather, which is regarded as best that all the exposed 30 assess parts, such as the screws 16, 19 and 20 and the nuts 14 are finished in nickle or brass. It should be stated also that the arrange-v ment permits of using springs of proportionate size and strength to the size of the wheel and the widths of the rims, the springs being of smaller or greater diam eter in accordance as they areused upon Wheels having fellies of smaller or greater widths.

Having fully described my invention, I

' claim In a spring tire, the combination with inner and outer relatively shiftable rims and removable annular flanges secured at the sides of the outer rim and projecting toward the inner rim butterminating short unattached relation,

out positive attachment the centering of the springs and to hold of the same, of a plurality of coil cushioning springs fitted radially-between the rims in and projections pro ti led on the inner rimand fitted within the convolutions of the several Springs withthereto to maintain the same against accidental lateral ment.

a In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses displace DANIEL MORIARTY.

Witnesses: CHAS. S. HYER, JoHN S. Pownns. 

